This was one of the better ones - had potential to evolve into Vizzini's discourse to Wesley just before he drank the poison.

"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."("Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.")-- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-- Philip K DickOK, now let's look at four dimensions on the blackboard.-- Dr. JoyEnglish isn't much of a language for swearing. When I studied Ancient Greek I was delighted to discover a single word - Rhaphanidosthai - which translates roughly as "Be thou thrust up the fundament with a radish for adultery."

You make two cups of tea. Both cups are exactly the same size, made of the same material, sitting the same environment (a kitchen at room temperature); you use exactly the same amount of boiling water from the same kettle, so we can assume all things are equal so far.

You take the milk out of the fridge, and add an amount of cold milk to one cup. You return the milk to the fridge, and leave both cups to stand for 10 minutes. Then you take the milk back out of the fridge and add exactly the same amount of cold milk to the other cup.

You now have two cups of tea. Which one is hotter? Why?

This one seemed really obvious to me. I read it 3 times just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding

I believe it's time for mankind to set aside the crutch of religion and embrace morality born of reason and truth. Those crutches have long since proven treacherous when the ground gets slippery.

Rainswept wrote:This one seemed really obvious to me. I read it 3 times just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding.

It seemed really obvious to me too. But I have heard it argued through several times by people who don't get thermodynamics, and apparently it is counterintuitive: they seem to think the milkless tea will stay hotter because it starts hotter.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."If you're making a political point wearing a balaclava, you're a c***. It was true for the IRA and it's true now." ~ daftbeaker.

Statistically, the fact that the bullets are adjacent shouldn't make a difference if you spin, right?

;-)

"You bypassed the Maginot line of logic and rationality and annexed the Sudetenland of irrational comparisons!"-Unattrib

"We live in a world where John Lennon was murdered, yet Barry Manilow continues to put out fucking albums. God-dammit! If you're gonna kill somebody, have some fucking taste. I'll drive you to Kenny Rogers' house."-Bill Hicks

Oh, well if you're spinning between each pull of the trigger then it doesn't make a difference. The chances of you blowing your brains out is the same in each pull of the trigger, assuming a spin in between. The only time the bullets being adjacent will matter is if you keep pulling without a spin.Of course, I am very likely wrong as statistics was never my strong suit.Oh, and the supersupersupersuperhighmaniawhichIshouldprobablybehospitalizedforisn'thelpingatallbecausemybrainisgoingwaywaywaywaywaywaywaytoofastformetostopandthink.Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa...

"You bypassed the Maginot line of logic and rationality and annexed the Sudetenland of irrational comparisons!"-Unattrib

"We live in a world where John Lennon was murdered, yet Barry Manilow continues to put out fucking albums. God-dammit! If you're gonna kill somebody, have some fucking taste. I'll drive you to Kenny Rogers' house."-Bill Hicks

Helium Hands wrote:Oh, well if you're spinning between each pull of the trigger then it doesn't make a difference. The chances of you blowing your brains out is the same in each pull of the trigger, assuming a spin in between. The only time the bullets being adjacent will matter is if you keep pulling without a spin.Of course, I am very likely wrong as statistics was never my strong suit.Oh, and the supersupersupersuperhighmaniawhichIshouldprobablybehospitalizedforisn'thelpingatallbecausemybrainisgoingwaywaywaywaywaywaywaytoofastformetostopandthink.Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa...

If you pull and miss, there are only 4 chambers you could have attempted to fire from. Three of those chambers are followed by another empty chamber. One is followed by a chamber with a bullet in it.

So that gives you a 3 out of 4 chance of having another empty chamber if you don't spin. (3/4)

If you spin, assuming total randomness, you have a 2/6 chance of having a chamber with a bullet in it. (2/6 = 1/3)

So you have a 3/4 chance of not being shot if you don't spin, or a 2/3 chance of not being shot if you do spin.

Since 3/4 (.75) is larger than 2/3 (.66), you have a greater chance of not being shot (assuming you survived the first trigger pull) if you do not spin.

I hear a distant muted thumping... could it be the sound of Pieces pounding her head on her desk?

"Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens."("Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.")-- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.-- Philip K DickOK, now let's look at four dimensions on the blackboard.-- Dr. JoyEnglish isn't much of a language for swearing. When I studied Ancient Greek I was delighted to discover a single word - Rhaphanidosthai - which translates roughly as "Be thou thrust up the fundament with a radish for adultery."

Helium Hands wrote:Statistically, the fact that the bullets are adjacent shouldn't make a difference if you spin, right?

;-)

Actually the uneven weight distribution does effect the spin. In Russian roulette, it does make it less likely that the bullet will be aligned with the chamber on the first spin as the weight of the bullet makes it more likely to settle on the bottom.

"How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed'? Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'" - Carl Sagan

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Henri Poincaré